After months of frenzied campaigning by the candidates, the political promises stopped Tuesday and the voters made their statement.A Republican congressional majority and a multitude of new voting equipment are bing put to the test in an election that will define the balance of power for the rest of George W. Bush's presidency. Both parties hustled to get their supporters out in high-stakes contests across the country, Democrats appealing one more time for change, and appearing confident the mood was on their side. Republicans conceded nothing as their vaunted get-out-the-vote machine swung into motion. About a third of voters were using new equipment, and problems in several states were reported right out of the gate. The government deployed a record number of poll watchers to the many competitive races across the country.... http://www.cnn.com

America is electing a new Congress, and Democrats are poised to take over. But Republicans are giving it one last push: For them, everything is on the line. It was a last-ditch attempt to mobilize the reluctant base. US President George W. Bush made a quick stopover in Pensacola, Florida on Monday afternoon to beat the drum for Republican gubernatorial candidate Charlie Crist -- designated to inherit the post currently held by Bush's brother Jeb. Thousands poured into the Civic Center to catch an up close glimpse of the president, in shirt sleeves and flanked by local honoraries.But there was one man who excused himself from this spectacle: the candidate himself. Crist had more important things to do. "We've got to fight for votes in other parts of the state," he told an irritated White House. Like in Jacksonville. Where Bush's old rival Senator John McCain was campaigning....http://www.spiegel.de/international/0,1518,447023,00.html

A judge in Zimbabwe has dropped charges against 180 women charged for taking part in anti-government protests. The magistrate said there was not enough evidence against activists from the Women Of Zimbabwe Arise (Woza) lobby group to proceed with the trial. A BBC correspondent at the court in the second city, Bulawayo, described chaotic scenes inside and outside the courtroom during the hearing. The women had held a public protest over currency reforms in August. They had called for a change of government, rather than a change of banknotes. They were charged under Zimbabwe's tough Public Order and Security Act and faced two years in prison if convicted. ...http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/6123680.stm

A CURFEW has contributed to a relative peace in Iraq's most dangerous regions following the guilty verdict and death sentence on former dictator Saddam Hussein.But despite one of the tightest security crackdowns this year, the US military said three more Americans had died and police said 72 people were found dead across Iraq by daybreak.Iraq's Government has imposed the open-ended curfew on Baghdad and the edgy provinces of Diyala and Salahuddin, closed its international airport, added checkpoints and stepped up police patrols with the US military. All leave for Iraqi soldiers was cancelled...http://www.theage.com.au/news/world/iraq-curfew-means-low-death-toll/2006/11/06/1162661617827.html

Iraq’s Interior Ministry said Tuesday that it has charged 57 members of the Iraqi police, including a general, in the alleged torture of hundreds of detainees at a prison in eastern Baghdad. Torture is considered widespread among the poorly trained police force, which has suffered heavy losses at the hands of Sunni insurgents and criminal gangs, but Tuesday’s announcement marked the first time the government has sought charges. Iraqi police are accused of close ties to the Shiite death squads whose daily abductions and killings fuel the sectarian violence convulsing the country. Authorities reported finding the bullet-riddled bodies Tuesday of a dozen apparent death squad victims floating in the Tigris River south of Baghdad, all blindfolded and bound at the wrists and ankles. We rehired Saddam’s police who supported and done all the dirty work and this comes as a surprise? Police historically serve any master and will do anything as long as they are paid. ...http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/15596736/

Two oil workers taken hostage in Nigeria, one Briton and one American, were released in good health on Tuesday after five days in captivity, a state government spokesman said.The two men were working on a ship off the Nigerian coast for Norway's Petroleum Geo-Services when they were abducted by armed militants demanding cash and basic amenities for nearby communities. "The hostages have just been released. They are doing fine," said Ekiyor Conrad Welson, a spokesman for Bayelsa State, where the kidnapping took place. Nigeria is the world's eighth largest oil exporter, but supplies are frequently disrupted by violence in the Niger Delta. The two men's release had been expected on Sunday and Monday, but negotiators said it was held up by increasing ransom demands. ...http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory?id=2635151